Selena Gomez Headed to the Congo for UNICEF

Fresh off the stage of her benefit concert for UNICEF, Selena Gomez spoke to E! Online about taking her philanthropic efforts for the organization one step further. Gomez has been an ambassador for UNICEF for a couple of years now, and at her benefit show, which raised upwards of $200,000, the 19-year-old songstress talked about her plans to travel to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Gomez spoke about her upcoming visit the war-torn Congo at her UNICEF benefit show at the House of Blues in West Hollywood on Jan. 20. “We first went to Ghana and then we went to Chile,” Gomez told E! reporters. “In April, we’re going to go somewhere a little harder, the Congo… The first trips were to ease me into it.”

Although it will mark her first visit to the country, this won’t be Gomez’s first time lending a helping hand to those living in the Congo. In 2009, she raised funds for the war-torn African country at the Raise Hope for the Congo event in Los Angeles. The event was set up in order to raise awareness about the sexual crimes that are committed against women and girls in the Congo.

Despite her caring and humane nature, it was actually a fellow musician who inspired Justin Bieber‘s girlfriend to take a charitable trip to the Congo. “I was talking to Joel Madden and he works with UNICEF and he went to the Congo,” Gomez also told E! reporters. “He said it was the most intense thing he had ever done in his entire life — and the best thing he had ever done.”

Best wishes to Gomez on her upcoming UNICEF ventures in the Congo. We hope the starlet stays safe while simultaneously helping those in need.